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The United States is in turmoil. Over the last 150 years, a considerably large
amount of data has been collected on standardized testing in high school. Much debate
exists regarding whether or not states should require students to pass standardized
Unless a student goes to a private school, chances are they will have to take a
standardized test (New Moon Girls). Because of the No Child Left Behind Act schools
are required to issue standardized tests to students. These tests will judge their
China is a major player in the battle for education. Dating back to approximately
the 7th century, the Chinese have used tests as a measure of one’s knowledge.
Recently, in 2009, China topped the PISA rankings (a worldwide census reflecting level
of education by country focusing in reading, math and science), effectively beating the
narrowing the curriculum (Death and Life). Arguments have risen over the fact that
teachers are required to bend their curriculums to meet the strict expectations of
standardized tests. People worry that this bending of the curriculum will limit the
student’s learning. However, others may argue that “Standardized tests are not
narrowing the curriculum, rather they are focusing it on important basic skills all
based on a study from 2005 where teachers in Minnesota were questioned about
standardized testing and their curriculums. Teachers responded with positive comments
Standardized tests are a tremendous source of data at a relatively low cost (Stop
the War Against). Each year data is collected from millions of students all over the
world. This data is collected to tell how good a certain school is; pushing schools to
encourage students to perform higher on mandated tests. Costs for imposing these
provide accurate and reliable results pertaining to the test-taker’s skill (Improving Your
Test Questions). Consequently, multiple choice questions take the cake for popularity
on standardized tests. Not only do teachers enjoy using multiple choice questions, they
The entire goal of grade school through senior year of high school is preparing
the students for college. Schools want to take students in, train them up and send them
accomplish this goal (The Tests We Know). Students will learn to self-study and retain
information. These skills are extremely useful in a college scenario, where there is little
discipline and a whole lot expected of students. Colleges are also very test reliant, so
Many people even distrust the teacher’s own grading scale. Depending on the
teacher, the teacher may grade more on effort and participation rather than mastery of
the skill (Characteristics of). Standardized testing eliminates this practicing requiring
Ryan Nicholson, 3
practice ensures that passing students actually know the knowledge they are meant to.
On the topic of making sure students know what they are supposed to know
upon graduation, standardized tests help prevent a practice called “social promotion”
onto the next grade level anyway, hoping that it will increase the student’s self-worth.
This is obviously a problem when some of the student’s classes for the year build on
knowledge from previous allegedly passed classes. Standardized tests require students
to pass them in order to move onto the next grade level and/or class.
Many test skeptics will also argue that standardized tests can discriminate
between English and non-English speakers alike, this also goes for students coping with
to them (Ten Moral). Use of slightly complex dialect may send their minds astray.
Obviously, this isn't ideal when testing a student’s knowledge in a subject. Standardized
understanding of the subject. Students with an IEP because of disabilities also suffer
here (Opting Out). These students may require extra time, redirection, and might even
need the questions read aloud for better understanding. Not having correct
One big phrase being tossed around is “Teaching to the test”. Teaching to the
test is the practice of just focusing only on material only on the test purely by
memorizing information but not understanding it. Teachers may just hand out sheet that
Ryan Nicholson, 4
look exactly like the test but very different, a clone of sorts, for practice by students
(Popham). It is widely argued that teaching like this won’t better prepare students for the
working world.
Another issue standardized tests are criticized with is the amount of stress it
can be by far one of the most stressful things in a school year. Students may spend
months or maybe even the whole year studying and practicing to make sure they ace it.
In many high schools, if a student doesn't pass his state’s standardized test, even if they
pass the class, they won't be able to move onto the next grade or class level.
Before being taken over by China, Finland sat proudly at number one on the
PISA chart. Finland doesn't actually use official standardized tests in ranking schools
and students (Assessment for Learning). Finland has achieved its status using
“assessments that encourage students to be active learners who can find, analyze, and
McCloskey).
One of the problems with mandating standardized tests in high schools is that
rather than prepare students for future life and work skills, it just makes them good at
taking tests (Assessment for Learning Around the World). This tends to make students
learn how to memorize and spit back information rather than learning how to apply skills
in real life. The argument stands that students should be taught how to apply knowledge
standardized tests. Each side has a fair amount of information to throw at the other. The
Ryan Nicholson, 5
question everyone in education is asking themselves is, should the United States
Works Cited
“Improving Your Test Questions.” CITL, Center for Teaching Excellence, _citl.illinois.edu/citl-
101/measurement-evaluation/exam-scoring/improving-your-test-que_stions.
Popham, W. James. “Teaching to the Test?” How Student Progress Monitoring Improves
Instruction - Educational Leadership, www.ascd.org/publications/educational-
leadership/mar01/vol58/num06/Teaching-to-the-Test%C2%A2.aspx.
Darling-Hammond, Linda, and Laura McCloskey. Assessment for Learning Around the World:
What Would It Mean to Be “Internationally Competitive?”
standardizedtests.procon.org/sourcefiles/assessment-for-learning-around-the-world-
what-would-it-mean-to-be-internationally-competitive.pdf.
"Standardized tests." New Moon Girls, Sept.-Oct. 2009, p. 19. Student Resources in Context,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A207391637/GPS?u=va_s_128_0030&sid=GPS&xid
=9cee0777. Accessed 17 Dec. 2018.
Sam Dillon, "Top Test Scores from Shanghai Stun Educators," www.nytimes.com, Dec. 7,
2010
Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, 2010
Herbert J. Walberg, "Stop the War Against Standardized Tests,” Defining Ideas, May 2011
Louis V. Gerstner Jr., "The Tests We Know We Need,” New York Times, Mar. 14, 2002
Valerie Strauss, "Unanswered Questions About Standardized Tests,” Washington Post, Apr.
26, 2011
National Council of Churches Committee on Public Education and Literacy, "Ten Moral
Concerns in the Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act” www.ncccusa.org
(accessed June 21, 2011)